Top Pest Control Tips for Pet Owners

Pest control issues can be a problem for any homeowner. If you have pets in the home, though, you might be particularly concerned about household pests. As long as you remember these tips, you can be successful at dealing with pest control issues as a pet owner.

Have Your Yard Sprayed

One issue that you have to worry about when you have pets is the potential for them to bring pests into your home from outdoors. If you live in a warmer climate, fleas and ticks can begin being a problem in March, and you may continue to battle them until winter.

To protect your pet from these pests and to prevent fleas and ticks from being brought into your home on your pet's feet or fur, work with an exterminator to have your yard sprayed before the warm weather comes. Your exterminator can spray for fleas, ticks, ants, mosquitoes and a host of other pets that might otherwise cause you and your family - including family members that have fur - discomfort.

Use Safe Pest Control Methods in Your Home

By having your yard sprayed for pests, you can help prevent pests both inside and outside. However, you should not stop at spraying for pests outdoors. In case your pet brings home pests from a dog park, kennel or veterinarian's office, you should protect your home, too.

A professional exterminator can help by treating your home with products that will help against fleas, ticks, and other pests without posing a danger to your pets or children. If there are already pests in your home, an exterminator can help. An even better course of action is to have your home treated before the pests become a problem, though.

Take Your Pet to the Vet

Taking your pet to the vet regularly is important if you want to keep your pet healthy. It can also help with keeping pests at bay, too. Your veterinarian might recommend medication or products that can be used to help keep fleas, ticks, and other pests at bay.

Focus on Regular Grooming

There are a lot of responsibilities that go along with having a pet, and at times, you might find yourself slacking off on some of them. Regular pet grooming is not something that should be skipped, though. For one thing, grooming your pet regularly helps with bonding. Frequent grooming also helps keep pets healthy.

When you're concerned about pest control, though, regular pet grooming is also essential. Using a good flea shampoo on your pet is a good way to kill fleas, ticks, and other pests. You can also use a flea comb to find and get rid of fleas and flea eggs that would otherwise end up in your home.

Ask your veterinarian for recommendations about the best grooming techniques and products to use to help with pest control while also keeping your pet healthy.

Keep Pet Areas Clean

There might be certain areas of the house where your pet spends a lot of time. These areas can be more prone to fleas, ticks, and other pests, so you should focus on keeping them clean. Regularly vacuuming any furniture or flooring in the areas where your pet spends a lot of time is important. Additionally, washing pet bedding and toys regularly is an essential task.

Along with helping to prevent pests in your home, frequent cleaning of pet areas will also help with odors and will give your pet a sanitary environment to live in.

There are some additional concerns that pet owners have to worry about when it comes to pest control. Contact us at All State Exterminating Co. so that we can help with keeping pests away from your home, family, and pets.

Protect Your Home From Pests Before- and After - a Hurricane

Hurricane season causes billions of dollars of damage every year, and depending on how near to the coast you live, your property could be part of that tally. And, thanks to storms like Hurricane Florence, the 2018 hurricane season promises to be one of the Carolina region's most devastating in years.

Most homeowners brace themselves - fiscally, mentally, and emotionally - for possible flood damage after a storm, but if you live in a storm-prone area, you need to prepare yourself to deal with damage from pests, too.

You can't control how high floodwaters rise, how fast the wind blows, or how furiously the storm will hit your property - but you can control, at least to an extent, how the hurricane affects your home based on how you prepare for impact. Take these steps to minimize potential pest problems both before and after a hurricane hits.

At the Start of Hurricane Season

If you aren't already in the habit, start scheduling seasonal visits from pest exterminators. Along with removing any pesky residents, the pest control company can assess your home's weak points and make recommendations on how to keep pests out.

The start of storm season is also the time to seal any cracks in your doors, windows, siding, and walls. Boarding up windows and doors right before a specific hurricane hits is obviously crucial, but thoroughly sealing and caulking leaks, cracks, and holes as early as possible prevents water from leaking in and pests from gaining a pre-flood foothold or sneaking in after the storm.

Make sure not to neglect your roof, as holes in your roof are an open invitation to pests of all sorts. Seasonally inspect gutters for tree debris that can rot or clog to create pools of standing water, both of which attract pests.

Right Before the Storm

If you're part of an evacuation zone, chances are high that your property will lose power during the storm and won't regain it for at least a few days, if not weeks. The food in your fridge and freezer will be unsalvageable by the time you can safely return to your property, and while you're away, the rotten food can attract pests like flies and rodents.

Before you leave, remove as many perishable items as you can from the freezer, fridge, and pantry. Move non-perishables like canned goods to a higher story where they'll be less likely to get water damaged than in the first-floor kitchen.

After the Storm

The steps you'll take to deal with water damage also reduce your chances of inviting pest infestations. Most importantly for both goals, deal with standing water immediately. Contaminated water not only spreads disease and further damages your property but also attracts dangerous pests like mosquitoes, termites, and rodents.

Once you've removed all standing water from your home, address the remaining damp, moldy, water-damaged patches. Ripping out floorboards and stripping walls of plaster is long, hard work, but the quicker you remove waterlogged materials, the quicker you stop damage from spreading and pests from taking up residence.

Unfortunately, taking these steps might not be enough to stall a pest problem, especially one that took root before the storm. After you've done whatever cleanup you can, including sanitizing a graywater-damaged home and removing all dangerous debris, get in touch with a pest control company for help dealing with unwanted visitors.

Live in South Carolina and need help with a pest problem? All State Exterminating Co has a solution for you. Along with pest control services, we also restore roofs, which makes us your one-stop shop for post-hurricane damage control. Get in touch anytime.

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08.07.2018

Pros and Cons of Buying a House With an Old Roof

When looking to buy a house, you may never find a house that checks all your boxes. Even if you find your dream home, it may need a new fence, HVAC system, or roof. This type of upfront cost could dissuade you from the purchase, but it may not be as bad as you think. Here are some things you should consider when thinking about buying an older home with an old roof.

Most Roofs Have Some Years on Them

Realistically, many roofs are going to have some age on them. Very few houses have brand new roofs, unless the home has just been renovated or has just been built. The average house roof lasts about 15 to 25 years, so a roof that's 10 years old may still have some time on it, depending on how it was built and how extreme the weather is in your area.

As most roofs aren't brand new, an old roof shouldn't be a deal-breaker on a home, as you'll likely be comparing a house to other homes with roofs of about the same age.

A Roof Can Be Expensive to Buy

You can't argue that a roof is a very expensive cost, especially at the outset of your home buying journey. Also, the cost of the new roof may not be able to be rolled into your home loan, so you may need to come up with the cost of the new roof in cash.

At the same time, needing to install a new roof could be a boon, as it does give you some negotiating power. With the knowledge that the roof has to be replaced, you may be able to ask for a discount on the purchase price or some concessions towards the repair.

In fact, if someone is desperate to sell their home, you may even be able to request that they replace the roof themselves, before you purchase the house or after. Of course, this is really only viable if they truly want to sell to you.

You May Have Other Costs

If a roof is not just old but has also been damaged for a long time, it could have lead to other structural issues. You need to have the home thoroughly inspected by a professional contracting team, as they will be able to give you estimates on the damages involved.

Your insurance costs may also be higher than average until you get the roof replaced, as your insurance company is going to need to insure you against incidental problems that could occur with the roof.

You Could Get a Renovation Loan

There are some loans that make it possible for you to get cash out for renovations. These are commonly known as renovation loans, and if you're purchasing a home with a very bad roof, it may be your only option. Some conventional loans will decline a mortgage if the property is in bad condition, unless you can show that you are able to make the necessary repairs at your own personal expense (or through negotiations with the seller).

This is because the company doesn't want to be saddled with a mortgage for an abandoned home, which will in turn be very difficult to sell. Even if the lender is willing to loan you money, you may not be able to get insurance, which is a requirement for nearly all loans.

Buying a home with an old roof can be a positive, as you may be able to get a significant amount of money off the purchase price. However, before you take that step, you need to know exactly how much the new roof and any structural damage is going to cost you. For more information, you can schedule an appointment with All State Construction 1 LLC All State Termite & Pest Control, which handles everything from roofing to exterminations.

Tips for Controlling Fire Ants on Your Property

Some household pests are destructive to your home and others spread disease or are just annoying. Fire ants are somewhat unique in that they can both damage your home by chewing wiring and also be a danger to your family and pets.

If you've ever been stung by a fire ant, you know how painful it is. What's worse is that you usually get stung by multiple ants when they swarm. A swarm of the stinging insects can kill a small pet, so when the ants move into your yard, they pose a serious threat.

You want to get rid of fire ants fast so your kids and pets stay safe. Here are some tips for dealing with fire ants indoors and outdoors.

Killing Fire Ants Outdoors

Fortunately, fire ant mounds are usually large and easy to spot. If your home is on a small lot, you might only have one mound to deal with. But if you have a large yard, you might have several mounds. Whether you have one or several, you should let a professional exterminator treat them for best results.

A exterminator will choose the right treatment to apply that won't negatively affect your landscaping, and they will do it in a way that has the best chance of killing the queen. The queen must be killed or the colony will rebuild.

One method of controlling fire ants is to treat the entire lawn with bait. This can be done with a spreader that tosses bait all around your lawn. The ants take the bait back to the colony, which will kill off other ants and eventually the queen.

This method can be used along with applying liquid pesticide on individual ant mounds. By applying the bait once or twice each year, you may keep fire ant colonies from returning. However, it will probably take several weeks for the baits to eliminate an active ant infestation.

Getting Rid of Fire Ants in Your House

Your fire ant problem becomes serious when fire ants invade your house. They might come in searching for food and moisture. Once inside, they could build a nest between your walls and be a constant danger. However, you don't want to start spraying the ants or putting baits in your home without thinking things through.

Using bait could lure in more ants, which you don't want to do. But spraying the perimeter of the house could force the ants to stay indoors, which you don't want either. Instead, the indoor colony should be found and treated so the ants are wiped out and not just driven deeper into your home.

Spraying a trail of ants with pesticide will kill them, but it won't harm the queen or the nest. Plus, you may expose your family to harmful chemicals for very little gain by using contact spray on ant trails.

Pesticide chosen and applied by a professional keeps your family safe while you battle the ants. A pest control expert is a big help in determining how to battle fire ants indoors effectively and safely.

Keeping Fire Ants Out of Your House

You may not be able to kill every fire ant on your property, and since fire ants are so common in South Carolina, you should take steps to keep them outdoors where they belong. Seal all the tiny gaps and cracks around your home so the ants can't get through.

Repair dripping water pipes and drains so there is no moisture in your home to attract the ants. Also, be sure to sweep up crumbs and seal food so the ants won't have a food source indoors. These steps also keep out other bugs as well, so they are good habits to develop.

If you've spotted a fire ant mound in your yard or you've seen the ants crawling inside your home, call All State Exterminating Co for quick help. We'll apply the right treatments to kill off the fire ants and work with you to prevent their return.

Getting to the Bottom of Your Rodent Problem in the Carolinas

Do you have a rodent problem? If you live in the Southeastern US, you just might. Rodents, especially mice, can be a big problem for homeowners in the Carolinas, and a sighting may warrant contacting pest control specialists in the area to prevent an infestation.

What You Are Dealing With

Rodents are a pretty common problem across the US, but it helps to know which type of rodent you are dealing with. Rats typically carry disease and are less common than house mice. If you see a single mouse, you may not have a problem just yet; if you see a rat, you likely are living in an infestation.

Norway Rats

Norway rats have been found wherever humans live in the US since the late 1700s; they are usually found in both rural and urban areas, especially in cellars, barns, silos, warehouses, docks, and sewers. These rodents build nests in places where food and water are readily available, and they can climb quite well.

Roof Rats

Roof rats are fairly common in the Carolinas and have been known to carry the plague. These rodents get their name from their tendency to enter homes and buildings through the roof or utility lines overhead. They will also make nests and thrive inside your home.

House Mice

House rats thrive in moderate climates such as South Carolina. These are the common pest that you may find in your home's walls, crawl-spaces, and basement. Mice are nocturnal, and they can survive quite well under rough conditions - including in places without a water source - which can make them tougher to get rid of.

How to Keep Rodents Away

The only way that rodents are going to leave on their own is if they can't find sufficient food to sustain them. That is why the first step in getting rid of mice or rats is to clean up and eliminate potential food sources. Keep food covered at all times, maintain clean counters and surfaces, and remove trash promptly to help keep rodents out.

How to Detect an Issue

If you are concerned that you could have a problem, listen carefully, particularly at night. If you hear scratching, thumping, or scrambling sounds, you could have rodents. Sometimes, your pets see or hear the pests before the humans in the house do, so watch how your pet behaves to identify a potential issue.

How to Deal With the Problem Yourself

It is possible to get a rodent problem under control with traps, but know that this approach means you will have to remove the rodent, dead or alive, afterwards. Also, rodents will bite when they feel threatened, which makes trapping and removing them tricky, especially if you are fearful or nervous.

What Rodents Can Do

In addition to the property damage that a rodent infestation can cause, these situations are also a source of grief and stress. Some homeowners may find it difficult to sleep knowing there are rats or mice in their dwelling, and this could lead to a depressed mood for some.

What an Infestation Will Cost You

If you are figuring the costs associated with a rodent problem, don't forget to consider the spoiled food, kitchen contamination, and the damage that rodents chewing can cause. Rats and mice that live in your walls may chew on wiring, which can cause a fire.

You Need to Work Fast

Rodents breed fast and a sighting can turn into an infestation in no time. The best approach to handling a rodent issue is professional extermination. Fast response with a qualified pest control expert saves time, headache, and money in the long run.

Still unsure about whether you have a rodent issue or not? Don't risk an infestation; contact an extermination agency to make sure.

When you are ready to resolve your rodent problem, contact All State Pest Control Their pest control professionals will take care of the issue for you so you can regain your home and peace of mind.

Remodeling After Termites? 3 Tips to Prevent Future Infestations

After discovering termites in your home, you might be more tempted to light a match and burn the place to the ground than you are to hire a team of contractors to remodel your space. However, with the right team of construction workers and a commitment to pest prevention, you may be able to restore your home and ward off future problems. Here are three tips to prevent future termite infestations you should remember while you remodel.

Avoid Dirt to Wood Contact

You might love the way that back porch cascades into your backyard, but if wood touches soil at any point along the way, it might reintroduce termites into your home. Soil to wood contact is one of the biggest causes of termite problems, so talk with your contracting team about avoiding this issue.

Work with contractors who are trained in termite prevention, and who understand industry standards for eliminating pest threats. For example, some contractors routinely use tools like underground termite shields and masonry caps to keep pests from spreading into your home, which can help to reduce your risk.

After your project is finished, avoid using garden decorations, benches, chairs, or picnic tables made with wood in your yard. Because some of these items may be transported indoors during certain parts of the year, exposing them to termites could create problems - even if they aren't permanently situated next to your house.

Ask for Termite-Resistant Materials

Termites are attracted to paper and wood since their bodies have special enzymes that digest cellulose. In addition to munching through things like wall studs and trusses, termites can also target insulation, protective membranes, and even wooden siding.

Fortunately, you can make your home less attractive to these ravenous pests by asking contractors to use termite resistant building materials like treated wood and cement siding. Before any part of your home is remodeled, think about which products would be attractive to termites and what you can do to ward off problems.

For example, instead of opting for wooden studs, ask your contractor to use steel versions. You can also opt for spray foam insulation, which creates an incredibly insulating layer of customized foam between the walls of your home and the outside world. For garage doors, choose fiberglass panels instead of solid wooden versions. Remember, most synthetic materials can be made to look like wood, without the termite risks.

Be Careful With Landscaping

Another huge risk factor for termite infestations is the way your yard is landscaped since some layouts are more attractive to termites than others. Things like fire pits, wood storage areas, and even mulch piled high in flowerbeds around your house can create hazards since these areas are prone to termite damage.

As a general rule of thumb, never stack wood anywhere near your home, and if you do, only burn the wood outdoors instead of bringing it inside. If you have flower beds around your home, keep mulch and other cellulose-containing ground coverings at least 6 inches from any wood trim or siding.

To create an invisible barrier between your home and the pests that frequent your landscaping, ask an exterminator to apply a layer of pesticide around the exterior perimeter of your space. Some extermination companies even inject water and animal safe pesticides into the ground to make the entire zone around your house less attractive to bugs.

Although it can feel intimidating to remodel after dealing with a pest infestation, you can simplify the process by working with All State Exterminating Co. With a strong commitment to best pest control practices and contractors who can help with everything from flooring and painting to full installations and home additions, you can enjoy a beautiful, bug-free home.

3 Types of Roof Damage After Storms

Storms can cause big problems for your roof. Once the storm has stopped and you've had a chance to assess the damage, you need to get help with repairs as soon as possible in order to prevent further damage.

While it's true that contractors in the area may be booked out for the week already if it was a bad storm, you shouldn't let that keep you from booking the earliest possible appointment with your trusted local contractor. Here are three types of roof damage that can compound your roof's storm damage if repairs are delayed.

Water Damage

If your roof was badly damaged (such as by a falling tree limb that put a hole through it), you're probably already seeing some water damage. Once the roof's exterior has been breached, water is able to get inside and between the roof layers. Water can compromise the underlayment of your roof, causing roof rot, and seep into your attic.

Once water is inside the attic, a drip can run along a rafter for yards, causing plenty of water damage along the rafters before dripping down to cause water spots on your ceilings, mold in your attic, dissolved drywall in your walls, water-damaged structural elements and other problems.

If your roof has allowed a significant amount of water in during the storm, you'll want to find both water damage remediation services and roof repair services.

Pests

Any breach in the integrity of your home can allow pests such as termites, carpenter ants, squirrels or birds to make their way into your home. Birds and mammals are likely to be easy to spot. If you have the bad luck to get your roof damaged right before the termites start swarming in your area, leaving the damage unrepaired could have expensive results.

Termites and carpenter ants don't only damage your roof; once they have access to the interior of your house, they can live inside the walls and chew through any untreated wood they find.

Nail Damage

If the contractors aren't going to make it out to your house within the next day or two, you may want to put a tarp over the damage to prevent unwanted weather and raccoons from getting in your home. Unfortunately, if you're not careful, you can worsen the damage by covering your roof with a tarp.

If you nail the tarp to the roof, you may create enough holes in the shingles that the roof (or a portion of it) will need to be replaced. This is especially likely if you're not a roofing expert and don't have a lot of experience with putting a tarp on the roof.

If possible, try using weights (such as bricks or cinderblocks) or ties to secure the tarp, rather than nails. If you don't have weights or ties available and instead must nail on the tarp, remember not to put any nails through the part of the shingle that's exposed to the weather. Instead, drive each nail in underneath a shingle tab so the nail doesn't breach your roof covering.

These three types of compound damage can occur if your roof starts out with storm damage and then doesn't get repaired quickly. To prevent damage, be sure to contact your roof repair contractor promptly after a storm, get the earliest possible appointment and use the correct technique if you have to tarp your roof while you wait.

If you'd like more information about roof repairs or need to schedule an appointment, you can contact us today. We would be happy to help make sure your roof is in good shape after storms or in good weather.

Four Remodeling Ideas That Invite Functionality Into The Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of your home. It's the room where the entire family gathers to begin the day, and it's often the room where everyone convenes at the end of a day. Functionality in the kitchen is highly important. If cooking in your kitchen is more of a nuisance than a pleasure, you don't need a new kitchen, you just need to revamp the one you already have.

Here are some of the updates you can incorporate to transform your kitchen into a more functional space.

1. Install Cabinet Inserts

People spend an entire year of their life looking for misplaced items. In most homes, it's safe to assume that a considerable amount of this time is spent in the kitchen. Kitchen cabinets should not just be a place to toss pots, silverware, spices and other tools - they should be convenient and organized storage spaces.

Bring more organization and efficiency into your kitchen by installing cabinetry designed with inserts. Spice racks, plate dividers, potholders and pullout pantries are just some of the insert options you can choose from. These inserts keep everything in one, easy-to-access location, and they can save you a considerable amount of time and stress.

2. Develop Work Zones

In years past, a functional kitchen design worked around an imaginary triangle. This concept involved the ability to draw a triangle between the sink, refrigerator and range—keeping all these features contained in the same part of the kitchen. However, current trends gear more towards creating work zones.

The idea with this concept is to group similar items and processes. Take cleaning, for example. A work zone layout would place your trash receptacle, sink and dishwasher in the same area. Having each item at an arm's length away reduces the amount of time it takes to clean up after dinner.

3. Incorporate Layered Lighting

Good lighting improves your mood, enhances focus and increases your energy level. After a long, hard day at work, you'll need all the mood, focus and energy assistance you can get to help you prepare dinner and make it through the cleanup process. In the kitchen, good lighting equals layered lighting.

Layered light involves the use of four lighting types: ambient, decorative, accent and task.

Think of ambient light as the primary source of illumination in the room, generally the brightest fixture.

Decorative lighting is primarily about style, pendant lights and chandlers fall in this category.

Accent lighting is meant to highlight a certain space or feature, such as the area over an island.

Lastly, task lighting is designed to enhance performance in a particular space. Task lighting works well in a food prep area.

Incorporating a layered lighting style can help you operate more efficiently.

4. Install a U-Shaped Island

If you have a traditional square or rectangular island, you're off to a good start. However, a U-shaped island will offer you more workspace. With this design, you can designate one side of the U as an eating space, the other end for task and food prep and the center for an additional sink, cutting board, wine chiller or other feature.

When you're trying to prep dinner with other people in the kitchen, a U-shaped island provides you with your own little corner to cook in. When hosting, a U-shaped island also provides ample space for serving without taking up valuable seating space.

A remodeling professional can help bring these ideas and many others directly into your home. With these updates, you'll enjoy a more functional space and even increase the value of your home. Contact our professional contractors at for more information.